Posted by Jonathan Hollander on March 18, 1998 at 17:27:48:
Question Number 1. This was a very tough question and I had to look over this a couple of times to make my final decision. I would hate to think that I would have the last say so on this issue. But, I finally decided on the White Female Physician who is 44 years old. I based this on the consequence-oriented system that states the righti thing to do in the end is base on what is the good thing to do. I couldn't do this withou looking at my options. I finally decided that the female doctor had more to contribute to our community than anyone else. Based on that contribution and the consequence if she were to die, I made my decision. Question number 2. The problem presented to me is that I am asked to lie to Mrs. Johnson by not revealing that I am a student. The three options that I can use are 1. Lie to Mrs. Johnson as suggested. 2. Explain to Mrs. Johnson that I am a student and ask her why she is concern about my caring. 3. Refused to take care of Mrs. Johnson and honor her wishes. The implication of the first option is that I am compromising my standards by lying and I am misrepresenting myself to Mrs. Johnson. If I am caught in this lie, she will never ever trust me again. The implication of the second option is that I would be in direct confrontation of my supervisor, but I might be able to determine why Mrs. Johnson doesn't want students and possibly change her mind. The consequences of the third option is that I would be defying my supervisor. My position is to talk to Mrs. Johnson, tell her I am a student and I will not take care of her if she still wishes but I would like to know the reason and see if I can help with the problem. Question 3. This was a difficult question but looking at hte four points of Gert and Sullivan help. The first point was would the lie benefit the person lied to or is the lie preventing more evil. Personally, I think the lie would benefit the wife. I don't see telling her something different would be worth the anguish she will experience that the husband died without her. The second point is it possible to describe the greater good that occurs. Clearly to me it is. She leaves with a peace of mind that her husband waited for her before he died. This was important to her. The third point, would the indvidual want to be lied to. That was the hardest to be able to answer, but again, I think if you were to ask her she probably say yes. Finally, I beleive that I would have handled this in the same manner if I had thought of it. But, part of me would have done what comes natural, just tell her. I don't think the people were unethical at all.